Tom AUBERT

What do you remember about your studies ?

I have fond memories of my studies in Le Havre. Being in my home town helped me to reconcile my studies with my sporting project. 

How do you become a stand up paddle champion ?

It's been a long road to get here ! I've had to spend a lot of time in the water, from a very young age, in order to progress again and again. I think the main thing is that I've always been passionate about what I do. I want to train and go in the water every day and that's probably why it works. The fact that my brother, Marius, is more and more involved in competitions gives me extra motivation. We try to train together as often as possible so that we can learn from each other. 

How do you reconcile higher education and competition ?

Since the start of the new academic year in September, I've been studying to become a sailing engineer at the École Nationale Supérieure Maritime in Marseille. I try to reconcile sport and studies as best I can, by training before, after and between classes. I also try to organise my competition schedule around the school holidays, so that I don't miss classes, or at least as little as possible. 

What would be your best memory of a competition ?

My best memory is without doubt my first participation in the biggest stand up paddle race in California in 2017. I finished in 6th place after leading the race for a while. However, my original aim was just to qualify for the final with the world's top 20. That result is undoubtedly what enabled me to progress to the top level. 

Do you have any Olympic dreams if one day stand up paddle were to be approved for the Olympic Games ? 

Unfortunately, there are no plans at the moment to include stand up paddle in the Olympics, but the international federation is working hard to ensure that our discipline becomes an Olympic sport in the future. In any case, if stand up paddle becomes an Olympic discipline, it would be a dream come true for me to take part in this prestigious event !